MW #9 | Autonomous Drones and Deeper Dreams
The Near Horizon of Autonomous Robots, Drone Counter-measures, and Continuing Explorations on Sleep
Welcome to Mind Whoosh! A newsletter bread-crumb trail of thoughts, learnings, and speculations following my spelunking journey through minds, metaverse, and this messy human meat-space we call ‘reality.’
In this Issue:
Fully Autonomous Drones are On the Horizon
Exyn’s LiDAR drones achieve Level 4 aerial autonomy, aka humans not needed
Counter-Drone Technologies to Detect and Stop Drones Today
Problems with Counter-Drone Technology
Shedding Light on the Problem of a Good Nights Rest
Andrew Huberman: Master Your Sleep & Be More Alert When Awake
Realtime 3D Cognitive Network Visualization
Fully Autonomous Drones are on the Horizon
It’s only a matter of time. Drones are one of the most advanced and fastest-growing domains of robotics. In addition, the low-cost availability of out-of-the-box consumer devices or DIY project kits makes them accessible to anyone who wants to tinker with flying robots. If you’ve ever been hanging out in a park or on a hike and heard a distinct whirring sound coming from the sky above, you already know. Someone is taking their drone out for a walk. We’re still just at the beginning.
There are a lot of things to be excited about here! We already see plenty of examples of automated burger-flipping robots from Miso Robotics and delivery drones from Amazon. Like every technology since the discovery of fire or pointy sticks, they also bring a new surface area for exploitation and misuse. Humans are creative and restless, so we’ll continue to expand the realm of what’s possible, all beauty and terror.
Exyn’s LiDAR drones achieve Level 4 aerial autonomy, aka humans not needed
Level 4 autonomy is a bold claim but could be considered a significant milestone in drone development. There is a heated debate around what entails an “autonomous” drone vs. a “self-piloting” system. We inevitably stumble right back into the heart of the challenge in building more general AI; your drone must be able to learn about and model its environment while making decisions based on an evolving “comprehension” of that space concerning its goals.
In Exyn’s case, that might be exploring an abandoned mine or finding people trapped inside a collapsed building. You can see below their effort to define a standard system for classifying capabilities. Compared with other drone companies, and you’ll find a variety of interpretations like this depending on where you look. That is to say, take this all with a hefty grain of salt. Those green and orange columns may require more layers than we realize.
Counter-Drone Technologies to Detect and Stop Drones Today
The fact that this article exists demonstrates there is genuine concern about the threat of remote-controlled or partially autonomous misguided systems. They compare various existing companies offering solutions for defending against or eliminating adversarial drones as an imminent threat.
Highlight: Did you know there are now Falcons trained to hunt drones? A future world where Bounty Hunters wield birds of prey against malicious drones like ancient Mongol nomads; reality is just asking to be made into a gritty pulp science-fiction novel.
Problems with Counter-Drone Technology
Along with counter-measures, you can find a slew of legal considerations to be wrestled with involved in their use. We are just beginning to figure out the appropriate regulations and laws needed as new services, recreations, and threats arise.
Now that we have arrived squarely in the magical future of muggle-tech, you can anxiously anticipate the emergence of ‘Defense Against the Drone Arts’ courses surfacing in your nearest Hogwartsian institution of learning.
Shedding Light on the Challenge of a Good Nights Rest
Improving my sleep quality and general cognitive function has continued to be a point of focus this year. You’ll find gathered here some of the most effective methods I’ve tried in this exploration. I’ll continue to update this piece as these methods evolve.
Master Your Sleep & Be More Alert When Awake
One of the most valuable resources I’ve found thus far has been Andrew Huberman’s new podcast series. The first several episodes have focused entirely on better understanding and improving our sleep. Nobody should have to go through life trapped in the body of a half-conscious zombie. We’ve all suffered through that before; Life is just better with quality rest.
Realtime 3D Cognitive Network Visualization
Curious what the neural networks in your brain might look like firing in real-time? This is a mesmerizing visualization of the brain’s neural networks I came across recently. It even lets you play with the number of neurons and connections on screen or the transfer rate of signals across the network.
If you appreciate any of the things I’ve gathered or written about here, consider sharing this with other like-minded humanauts in your circles. Right now, the best thing you can do is help find a larger community of people who can benefit.
great compilation! Planning to use 2 references from this article with my Digital Engineering Team - 1) Levels of Arial Autonomy scale and 2) the 3D cognitive network visualization tool! Very cool and nice work!
The bit about the falcons hunting the drones is crazy!! Reminds me a bit of a Mad Max type of world. Nice shout out to Harry Potter too!